Black Friday and Cyber Monday (BFCM) are just around the corner. As consumers prepare for the holidays, Shopify brands need to prepare for a spike in sales. Beyond stocking products and offering BFCM promotions, it is vital to optimize the customer’s post-purchase experience. 

In this article, we walk through 10 industry-tested post-purchase strategies that help Shopify brands reach 3 key goals:

1. Retain their holiday customers after the BFCM sales end
2. Prevent unnecessary backlog during the busiest time of the year
3. Create a positive dialogue around their brand

These 10 strategies not only utilize Shopify’s built-in features but also show how Corso’s omnichannel e-commerce platform can fill the gaps your Shopify dashboard is missing so your customers have the best post-purchase experience possible.

First Time Buyers to Lifelong Customers

In the last five years, the cost of customer retention has increased by 60%. Luckily, Shopify brands have access to built-in Shopify tools, which can optimize the post-purchase journey. Between 2023 and 2024, brands using Shopify have seen a 59% increase in customer return rate.

Relieve anxious waiting 

Waiting for an order to arrive is nerve-racking at any time of the year, but adding in holiday porch pirates, party deadlines, winter weather delays, and children’s wish lists increases the stress of waiting for a package exponentially. Nearly 50% of Shopify consumers experience feelings of remorse after a purchase, and a successful post-purchase strategy will relieve your customers’ holiday worries. 

1. Customize order confirmation emails for BFCM 

In the Shopify Admin portal, customize the subject line and body of your automatic confirmation email to acknowledge the time of year. Reassure customers that you are invested in the holiday gift they purchase just as much as they are.

2. Provide clear order tracking on every single email

Make it extremely accessible for customers to see where their package is. Include tracking links on every post-purchase email. The Shop app by Shopify allows customers to see live updates for their package, thus reducing customer service inquiries. 

3. Update your return policy to accommodate post-holiday returns

BFCM is more than 1 month before New Year’s Day. If your current return policy doesn’t allow for returns beyond that time frame, adjust the policy for holiday orders. This will lessen the perceived risk customers have when purchasing from your brand.

Eliminate the Easy Questions

Last BFCM, Shopify made a record-breaking $11.5 billion in sales, a 24% increase from 2023. Black Friday in particular was the top sales day for over 67,000 Shopify brands. With such a significant increase in sales, the number of customer service inquiries will also increase, and can overwhelm customer service teams. To prevent a backlog and still maintain a positive customer experience, provide as much information to your customers as possible.

Transparency is Key

4. Update your FAQ for the holiday season

A badly curated FAQ page creates unnecessary barriers to your customers’ post-purchase experience. Before BFCM, take the time to add seasonal questions and answers.

5. Advertise a clear deadline for guaranteed holiday delivery 

During the holidays, many customers want to know if their package will arrive in time for an upcoming party or a special event. Include your guaranteed holiday delivery deadline in your holiday marketing to keep this easy question out of your customer service inbox.

6. List accurate customer service response times

Setting clear expectations in the present prevents frustrated customers in the future. In your confirmation email or on your Contact page, attach a brief note about potential delays in responses due to the busy season.

The ideal first response time for written customer inquiries is 1 business day. Corso Concierge’s average response time from October to November in 2024, with over 27,000 messages sent, was 2 hours, with a 96% CSAT.

Be the Gold Standard for CSAT

“Emma was very interested in ensuring I got the outcome I was happy with. She was understanding and helpful in getting things corrected, even if it was a mistake on my end. She was happy to help.” – A Happy Corso Customer

7. Ask for feedback a few days after delivery

During the holidays, packages are often delivered 1-2 days after the marked delivery date, so wait to send out your post-purchase survey until 48 hours after the delivery notification. 

8. Reward loyal customers

Customer loyalty programs consistently improve customer retention and overall customer satisfaction. Reward programs or promotions can be viewed as a thank you from your brand to your purchasers. One-off rewards can be a discount code for participating in a BFCM sale. 

Look at the Metrics

Shopify brands have access to a variety of metrics displayed in their Shopify analytics dashboard. While gross sales and orders over time have obvious implications, statistics outside of your dashboard can tell you more about your post-purchase experience 

Statistics should shape your post-purchase strategy

9. Dive into the stats you don’t see 

For example, Customer Effort Score (CES) is a metric that represents how easy it is to resolve an issue with an order. Although it is not directly calculated by Shopify analytics, you can subtract the percentage of low CSAT scores from your percentage of high CSAT scores.

10. Use AI to sort through data with ease

Corso’s analytics dashboard is integrated with an AI program ideal for quickly analyzing data from your large BFCM sale. The AI feature allows you to easily search customer data for specific analytics and insights.

Wrapping it up

Developing a post-purchase strategy this Black Friday and Cyber Monday is vital to creating lifelong relationships with first-time customers, reducing your customer service load, and creating a positive dialogue around your brand.

Ready to optimize your post-purchase experience? Book a demo with Corso to see how we can help your brand care for customers after they check out